Academy of Country Music pays tribute to stars, legends, writers, studio aces

Jamey Johnson and Holly Williams sing a Hank Williams song during the presentation of one of two Poet’s Awards at the ACM Honors on Tuesday night at Ryman Auditorium. This one was given posthumously to Hank Williams. Click image for more photos from the awards show. (photo: Larry McCormack/The Tennessean)

Clark, 71, took the stage and quoted lines by his old friend Townes Van Zandt in an attempt to explain the nature of song poetry: “The swimming hole was full of rum and I tried to find out why / All I learned is this my friend: You’ve got to swim before you fly.”

Kree Harrison poses for photos at the ACM Honors Red Carpet at the Ryman Auditorium on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013. Click image for more photos from the red carpet. (photo: Larry McCormack / The Tennessean)

The ACM’s Pioneer Awards went to two groundbreakers: the late Keith Whitley and The Judds. Both acts brought Kentucky-bred, mountain-pure singing to the country mainstream in the 1980s. Bentley performed a duet with Whitley’s old duo partner Ricky Skaggs on “Don’t Cheat In Our Hometown,” then took a solo turn on “I’m Over You” before Whitley’s widow, Lorrie Morgan, and son, Jesse Keith Whitley, sang a version of Keith Whitley and Morgan’s recording “’Til a Tear Becomes a Rose.” Former RCA Records chief Joe Galante presented both Pioneer Awards, and Kree Harrison and Thompson Square sang for The Judds.

Blake Shelton, a judge on television show “The Voice” when he’s not recording country hits, won a Gene Weed Special Achievement Award. Steve Wariner presented Shelton with the award, saying Shelton had “taken country music to places it’s never been before.”

Darius Rucker presented Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott with the Jim Reeves International Award. Over the past year, the trio performed for more than a million fans in 11 countries on three continents.

Dallas Davidson won his second straight songwriter of the year award, as Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley sang his songs (hits “We Owned the Night,” “I Don’t Want This Night to End” and “The One That Got Away”) and Songwriters Hall of Famer Don Schlitz sang his praises.

“I’ve heard a common thread through all of these songs,” Schlitz said. “And it’s this: We’re having fun, we’re having a party, and you’re invited: Everyone’s invited.”

Jason Aldean, whom Bentley praised for selling out venues where no other country artist had played before, including Boston’s Fenway Park and Athens, Ga.’s Sanford Stadium, received a Crystal Milestone Award in celebration of his touring success.

Murfreesboro’s Chris Young paid tribute to Country Music Hall of Famer George Jones, performing a medley that included “The Race Is On” and “He Stopped Loving Her Today.”

Academy of Country Music co-founder Tommy Wiggins received the Mae Boren Axton Award, given for service to the Academy. Wiggins helped form the Country Music Western Academy, later renamed the Academy of Country Music, to bring attention to West Coast-based country musicians.